Support Susan's recovery from a traumatic brain injury

For those of you who may be unaware, on January 21st, our dearest Susan Lou Thompson suffered from a surprise hemorrhagic brain bleed.

It was a typical, post-restaurant-manager-shift-Tuesday evening when Suze was driving, over to co-parent and close friend Ry’s house to pick up her sweet, 5-year-old Brussels Griffon, Linden. On the drive over, a casual headache quickly elevated to a migraine, that then evolved into debilitating cranial pain, blurred vision and nausea. By the time Suze arrived at Ry’s, she could barely make it into the house. Still hesitant to assume anything worse than a fluke headache gone bad, Suze, Ry, and Georgina, Ry’s partner, tried to wait it out. Things escalated, and it became clear that an ambulance would need to be called to take Susan to the emergency room.

After quickly discovering that she had suffered from a ruptured capillary in her brain, she would need to be transferred from Columbia Medical hospital to Albany Medical Center Neurosurgery. Cathy and Darwin, Susan’s parents, were on the road from Chicago within hours of hearing the news, prepared to be by her side during her time in the hospital. She spent 7 days in the ICU, undergoing various tests and procedures, many long awaited and unknown. Visits from close friends and loved ones helped Suze pull through the incessant, and debatably unnecessary, poking and prodding from a rather unorganized medical team, until she was cleared to return home on January 28th to begin her long recovery.

As of now, she is no longer in danger, but is still experiencing much pain, fatigue, and nausea. A quick lesson on aneurysm recovery: the blood from the rupture circulates in the spinal fluid to be redistributed into the body, causing irritation of the nerves, leading to lower back spasms, and shooting pains down the legs. To mitigate this, Suze is restricted to minimal movement and is using a cane for assistance to get around the house. Her doctors insisted that she take a minimum of two months off of work to allow her brain to heal and fully recover, but in this economic climate that has been virtually impossible for her to be able to do.

For those of us who know Susan, you can imagine that starting a crowdfunding effort was not her preferred option. She is fierce, independent, and admittedly a little stubborn. Yes, she is one of the hardest workers we know and is good at all she puts her mind to, but she also leads with her humanity and morals. She is an original creator, caregiver, mentor, leader, and truly one-of-a-kind family member to so many of us.

The medical bills are starting to arrive and to alleviate mounting financial stress from this sudden accident, we are hoping our community can come together and help our Suze through this challenging time. We all (well, most of us) know finances are tight right now. And often, those of us who are first to offer our help, have the least to spare and are the last to ask for it when we are the ones in need.

So, if you are able to, please, donate what you can. Literally, anything helps. If you are not able to support monetarily, sharing this fundraiser is another way to help.

Furthermore, we hope just as much to take this as an opportunity to reflect on where we are collectively. It would be inauthentic to not mention the realities of this moment. Too many of us are one accident away from having the rug pulled out from under us. How are we keeping each other safe? How are we organizing to fight against the powers at be that are literally making our heads explode?

In love and solidarity,

The Suze Caboose